As part of its ongoing efforts to implement the TRACED Act, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved new safe harbors for phone companies that implement call blocking technologies. These safe harbors come in response to concerns from phone service providers that the technology used to block unwanted robocalls could also inadvertently block legitimate calls,… Continue reading FCC Approves Safe Harbors for Phone Companies Who Block Calls
Author: stefen
EDITORIAL: What did the Supreme Court do to the TCPA?
It was a clever lawsuit: suing the government and challenging the TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) under the auspices of the First Amendment. The heart of the case—the government-held debt collection exemption is a content-based restriction on speech—will have telemarketers rejoicing: no more TCPA nuisance lawsuits! ”Gentlemen… start your dialers!” Wait… stop… what have we… Continue reading EDITORIAL: What did the Supreme Court do to the TCPA?
Run It Back: SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Another Potentially Huge TCPA Case Next Year
While everybody is still digesting the Supreme Court’s status-quo-maintaining decision in Barr v. AAPC, the court announced that they have granted the petition for writ of certiorari in another case that could have significant consequences for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). And unlike Barr, this case challenges the statute’s all-important automatic telephone dialing system… Continue reading Run It Back: SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Another Potentially Huge TCPA Case Next Year
SCOTUS Strikes Down Debt Exemption, Upholds TCPA as a Whole
This is the way Barr v. AAPC ends This is the way Barr v. AAPC ends This is the way Barr v. AAPC ends Not with a bang but with a whimper. After all the legal wrangling and parsing of oral arguments, the Supreme Court handed down a decision today in a case that had… Continue reading SCOTUS Strikes Down Debt Exemption, Upholds TCPA as a Whole
Virginia’s New Telemarketing Amendments Take Effect
Back in April, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed into law several amendments to the state’s existing law that regulates telemarketing, the Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act. Those amendments take effect July 1, 2020. The law was originally passed in 2001 and was most recently amended in 2019. The 2020 amendments clarify the law’s definition of… Continue reading Virginia’s New Telemarketing Amendments Take Effect
FCC Issues Declaratory Ruling That Click-to-Text Is Not an ATDS
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Declaratory Ruling holding that click-to-text platforms will not be considered to be Automatic Telephone Dialing Systems (ATDS) if the phone number is manually added each time. This ruling is in response to a May 2018 petition from from P2P Alliance. It affirms that a peer-to-peer texting platform that… Continue reading FCC Issues Declaratory Ruling That Click-to-Text Is Not an ATDS
The Possibility of TCPA Being Invalidated Is No Reason for Complacency
The entire telemarketing industry is awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision in AAPC v. Barr, the case that very may well invalidate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in its entirety. However, the possibility that the main federal enforcement mechanism for regulating telemarketing may soon disappear is no reason for marketers to become lax in their… Continue reading The Possibility of TCPA Being Invalidated Is No Reason for Complacency
SCOTUS Rules that CFPB Director Can Be Fired by President but Is Otherwise Constitutional
The Supreme Court ruled that the president has the power to fire the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), but otherwise affirmed the constitutionality of the independent regulatory agency.
Court Invokes TCPA Debt Exemption Despite Imminent SCOTUS Ruling
While everybody waits to see if the government-backed debt exemption leads to the Supreme Court potentially invalidating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) entirely, a district court somewhat surprisingly decided to enforce that same debt exemption. In Tillman v. Navient Sols., LLC, No. 18-CV-04625, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104533 (N.D. Ill. June 15, 2020), the… Continue reading Court Invokes TCPA Debt Exemption Despite Imminent SCOTUS Ruling
TCPA Lawsuits on Both Sides of the Aisle: Bernie Sanders’s Campaign Sued
As we enter the summer of an election year, we are seeing further evidence of how the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) poses risks for political campaigns. This week, a TCPA class action was filed against the erstwhile presidential campaign of Vermont senator Bernie Sanders. The case—Jacob Buller and Cody Olson v. Bernie 2020 Inc.,… Continue reading TCPA Lawsuits on Both Sides of the Aisle: Bernie Sanders’s Campaign Sued